After more than three years, the Kevin Knox era has mercifully come to an end in the Big Apple. The New York Knicks included him in a deal that netted them forward Cam Reddish from the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
Knox came to the franchise with a lot of promise, a lottery selection out of John Calipari’s Kentucky prospect factory. He leaves having never been the focal point of the franchise, topped on the totem pole by several young players who came in the intervening years.
Evaluating Kevin Knox’s tenure with the New York Knicks
The forward is arguably an example of the follies of scouting college players without much experience. Knox was great as a freshman with the Wildcats, averaging 15.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He earned the SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors during his lone season in Lexington.
Knox never came close to approaching those numbers during his time with the Knicks, though. For his career, he has averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He went from the full-time starter as a rookie to starting just four games in his last three seasons with the team.
Knicks fans can’t be mad the team didn’t take Trae Young or Luka Doncic in 2018 – they were already off the board. But the three players drafted directly after Knox were Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Miles Bridges.
Further down the draft chart, fans can find Michael Porter Jr., Jalen Brunson, and now-former Knicks teammate Mitchell Robinson. Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson weren’t even drafted.
So what happened to Knox? Let’s go through his Knicks tenure, year by year.